Photograph: Courtesy of the New York Times.
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
At the start of the season, Kim Mulkey notified her players that there was something prominently missing from the rafters hanging above the Pete Maravich Center.
No national championship banners were evident above the LSU basketball court and Mulkey recalled on Monday that it was her intention to do something about that.
“That’s why I came home, to win a championship,” Mulkey said less than 24 hours after her team won the first basketball title in school history by defeating the University of Iowa 102-85 in the final game of the 2023 NCAA Women’s Final Four played in Dallas.
It was also an apparently emotional journey for Mulkey, who became tearfully emotional during the final minute of the game and the Tigers’ 36th win in 34 games this season.
“The coaches told me I should get off the court and I told them to leave me alone,” said Mulkey, who played high school basketball at Hammond High and then collegiately at Louisiana Tech.
While the Final Four win represented an iconic moment for LSU, which had appeared in six Final Four attempts, it wasn’t the first for Mulkey, who won national titles at Baylor in 2005, 2012 and 2019.
This year was a different title accomplishment as Mulkey molded a team with nine transfers and players and moved them through the national tournament that culminated with a Sunday win that featured the most points scored by a team in Women’s Final Four history.
LSU moved through the four quarters on Friday on due to 40 minutes of accurate shooting. The Tigers shot 54 percent for the game and 11-of-17 from 3-point range.
Things appeared much differently in the first several minutes of the game however as Iowa grabbed a quick 7-3 lead after LSU committed three game-opening turnovers. After Mulkey called a timeout, LSU initiated an 11-3 run.
The Tigers maneuvered through a foul-plagued first quarter when game officials whistled 12 fouls and then Mulkey said he felt her players take control during the second period.
“I thought we won the game in the second quarter. We had three players on the bench with fouls, but we had three players in there who kept us in the game. Jasmine Carson (a graduate transfer) made her first seven shots (22 points) and she was the difference in the game,” Mulkey added.
In the second half with Carson sitting out most of the final 20 minutes due to personnel match up, LSU guard Alexis Morris finished the game with 21, including 15 in the final period. The Tigers led 59-52 at halftime.
Angel Reese, who played sparingly in the first half due to foul concerns, had 15 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes. Reese, a Maryland transfer, was named the game’s MVP.
The LSU performance against Iowa was similar to the win over Virginia Tech on Friday night where LSU dominated the final eight minutes.
Associated Press National Women’s Player of The Year Caitlin Clark, scored 30 against LSU. However Clark’s potential effectiveness was diminished after undergoing foul trouble. Clark ended the game with four fouls.
Clark scored a record 191 points during the NCAA Tournament.
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